A FLIGHT TO THE NORTH-EAST
invasion and civil war might have spared at least
one complete example of a great monastic col-
ony, enabling one to visualise the humaner side
of that mediaeval life which Carcassonne evokes
in its militant aspect.
The return from Soissons to Paris holds out so
many delightful alternatives, in respect both of
scenery and architecture, that, in April especially,
the traveller may be excused for wavering be-
tween Compiégne and Senlis, between Beauvais
and Saint Leu d'Esserent. Perhaps the road
which traverses Senlis and Saint Leu, just be-
cause it offers less exceptional impressions,
brings one closer to the heart of old France, to
its inexhaustible store of sober and familiar
beauty. Senlis, for instance, is only a small
sleepy town, with two or three churches of minor
interest—with that the guide-book might dismiss
it; but had there been anything in all our wan-
derings quite comparable to the impression pro-
duced by that little cathedral in its quiet square
—a monument so compact yet noble, so em-
broidered with delicate detail, above all so
sunned-over  with  a  wonderful  golden  lichen
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